A deep water port built in Myanmar’s Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal by India is ready to be commissioned.
An inauguration ceremony for this strategically important facility is expected to take place next month.
China’s SEZ further down the Rakhine coast at Kyaukphyu points to the Asian competitors attempting to expand their spheres of naval influence in the Indian ocean region as in the case of Gwadar in Pakistan and Chabahar in Iran being built by China and India, respectively.
Sittwe is the capital of Rakhine State (which has been in the news for the plight of Rohingya Muslims) in SW Myanmar.
It is located at the mouth of the Kaladan river, which flows into Mizoram in north-eastern India.
India has sought transit through Bangladesh to ship to NE states.
At present the only region through which thoroughfare is available is the Chicken’s Neck in West Bengal, sandwiched between Bhutan and Bangladesh.
Once shipments arrive at Sittwe, they will be transferred to smaller frieght carriers will sail upstream to Mizoram.
Port when unveiled will serve to make a statement in a country long dominated by China, but seen by the Myanmar historian Thant Myint-U, author of the book Where China Meets India, as a geopolitical theatre of competition between New Delhi and Beijing.
Both the government and the armed forces of Myanmar want to reduce their dependance on China.
Also on India’s anvil are 10 border haat points to facilitate local economic activity between Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Myanmar.
